travel rig

The Travel Rig Low Down

June 27, 2021 by Laura Schreiber

Our Clubhouse Panel

Every Friday at 2 PM Diana Birdsall and I co-host a Clubhouse in our room “Ask the VO Coaches.” I am always excited about our awesome panels, and every week I might say it’s “the best one ever,” but holy smokes was this an awesome panel! This week, just in time for your summer get-away, we talked about travel rigs and what gear you need and what you don’t need to bring with you on that much needed trip. Whether you’re going to the beach, to the mountains, or just to see family you missed during covid, we talked about it all, and we talked about it with some of the best in the field! We had George- the-tech Whittam, Dan Leonard, Dave Scott, and Rick Wasserman. So, here’s a review of some of what we chatted about in case you missed our beyond awesome chat!

What’s the Point

The point of a travel rig is to be able to provide continual service to your clients. If you are booking work daily and earn your income from VO, you likely have or need a travel rig. If you are earning your income from voice over, odds are you provide your clients with good quality audio. The goal is to continue to do that on the road. Can you match your home studio? The consensus was probably not, but you can do your best. Dave Scott, video producer with All Systems Go AV, explained that when they cast a voice talent, they need good quality audio. If they are doing an explainer, and there is likely minimal music behind it, there is not a lof of wiggle room to mask reflections. If they are doing a commercial, at least there is a music bed behind it that gives some additional flexibility. It is always important to be transparent with the client and let them know you’ll be out of the studio, and work from there.

The Gear

So you’re probably wondering what mic and what pre-amp you need? You’ll hate me for saying this, but it depends. It depends on how much you travel and what your budget is. Rick Wasserman also brought up the important distinction between what sounds the best and the “in a pinch or in a pickle” scenario. Ideally, you have time to test your gear and determine what compliments your voice, and you are not recording in a pinch, but rather in a planned and controlled scenario.

There are some great travel mics for your travel rig, including but not limited to:

Apogee 96K
Apogee Mic Plus
Apogee Hype
Sure MV51 USB
Rode NTUSB

For travel Preamps, Dan and George were clear to point out that all tested well in their shoot outs, but that they like the:

Steinberg UR12
Scarlett Focusrite Solo
Mixerface
Rode Ai1

Portable Booth Vs. Pillow Fort

Most traveling voice actors start with the pillow fort. At conferences, we typically all post photos of our pillow forts on social media. So, how do you know if it’s time to make the investment in a portable booth like George and Rick’s Tri Booth or the Vocal Booth to Go? Again, the answer is it depends on how much you plan to work while you travel, how much you travel, and how much you book. If you are just doing it to audition, you would not want to spend the money. If you are, however, booking substantial work daily, one of these booths will come in very handy.

https://youtu.be/lvdIGgVXb9Y tri booth video

During our panel professional voice actor Dave Braxton also joined to talk about recording in a car. He explained that it not only provided the ideal sound proofing, but also offered an escape from his family. While chatting about this, George shared this video from Rode which talks about how to do just that.

https://youtu.be/C6gE2_VdImU

My Rig

My own rig has evolved a lot over the years. I know use:

a Vocal Booth to Go
a Sennheiser MKE 660 Microphone
a UAD Apollo MK II Thunderbolt Preamp
a Ninja clamp (essential to good positioning of the mic)

My thoughts as a Coach

We talked a lot about on the panel how having good mic technique matters. You have to set yourself up for success and going out and buying expensive gear doesn’t not mean that you will start booking. Once you are booking, then upgrade. Once you have steady clients, give them the curtesy of letting them know when you’ll be our of the studio. Don’t start new projects on home gear before a trip. Always let them know, and plan ahead,

VO Booth Set Up Q and A

May 17, 2021 by Laura Schreiber

Q: What tweaks have you made to your set up that work well?

When I first built my professional home studio, I worked with my MacBook Air in the booth. For years I did this without issue. About two years in, I noticed that after very long recording sessions i had a lot of fan noise. I had gotten a great tip from Jack de Golia, a brilliant voice actor in Las Vegas, to always have ice packs handy, but after a while this became burdensome so I upgraded and put an iMac outside the booth and a monitor in the booth. This works MUCH butter. Here is a video made from a recent instagram story based on this very set-up question. If you can have this kind of set up, it’s great.

https://youtu.be/KGkESZa0X3o

Voice Over Both Set Up: Computer Outside, Monitor Inside (https://youtu.be/KGkESZa0X3o)

I also recommend having practical hooks in your book. I have a hook for my cans and a hook for my wires. It helps keep things neat and organized.

Q: What is your favorite way to connect for live sessions?

I have a new favorite way to connect: Zenncastr!! I have used this quite a few times recently, especially for long, guided eLearning sessions and it is great. There are no latency issues and it is very easy to connect, even easier than Source Connect. If only one person who is connecting has it, you can send them a link so it eases the financial burden as well. There are multiple price points, all of which are affordable. I love that when we speak during the session, all participants are recorded on separate tracks. So, if you are a coach recording a demo, or a voice over actor recording for a client, you never have to edit out any back and forth as you might on zoom. Then, at the end, you simply upload the audio.

I also do love having Source Connect. So many clients and agents require it. I occasionally need to have support sessions, and they do offer great support from Source Connect. Again, like with Zancastr, there are no latency issues. There are, though, sometimes quirks connecting. Sometimes people are confused with how to use it. If you are not both connecting with the same sample rate, for example, you won’t connect smoothly and it will be an issue, so that all needs to be decided ahead of time.

I also do still like to use zoom for the ease of use. Sometimes, even with the latency issues, it is great to just throw up a link and go! Especially this year, everyone knows how to use zoom, and it is nice to have a stress free connection for a live or guided session.

Q: If you could change anything about your studio, what would it be?

This might sound trivial, but it is not meant to. My booth is a rectangle and I have all this wasted space behind me. I could have saved a lot of money by making it a smaller square. The space behind me goes unused and is just a waste. I have to work with an acoustic board behind me, so I don’t even get to enjoy the roominess.

I have blogged about this before, but I would also choose a different color foam if I had the option. I hate that my white aurelex foam has turned yellow. I would either do panels or grew foam next time around.

Q: Can a voice over coach help with your studio set up?

A good voice over coach is still not an audio engineer. While I love to talk about gear with other voiceover actor and with students, it it is fun to talk about set up, I did not go to school for sound engineering. I do not have a degree in audio engineering. Everything I know about my studio, I know from having training with various audio engineers. As a voice over coach, I do work with students on microphone technique, but that is NOT the same thing is telling you how to set up your studio. Dave Scott, who do demo production with, can give you expert advise on how to set up your booth and guide you about what to invest in and how to actually set it up.

Q: What do you wish you knew when you first started your voice over studio?

I wish I know how important a good travel rig is. It took me five years to get my travel rig to sound as good as my home set up. That is WAY too long. If you are just starting in voice over during the pandemic, I realize it is hard to imagine actually packing up and leaving home, but when we do, the rig matters.

I wish I know how important my website was. I spend so much time working on inbound marketing through my website now, but my business was going for several years before I figures that out.

Voice Over on the Road

April 19, 2021 by Laura Schreiber

So You’re Leaving the Booth

It happens, even in the time of covid, we leave our studios. As a professional voice talent, we have work we can predict, and the joy of work we cannot predict, that comes in at a moment’s notice and can have a pretty tight turn around time. As a working mom, whether I’m home or traveling I’m always juggling my responsibilities as a small business owner and my role of a mom, this year more than ever. This year, my high school juniors are looking at colleges. And as if looking at colleges for twins is not challenging enough, their interests do not overlap at all. Emma is targeting schools with Speech programs and STEM programs. Jack is looking for International Relations and Russian. So, we are doing two completely different college searches at once. What does this mean for me as a voice actor? It means I’m leaving the booth for the first time in a year and I need to be prepared. Voice over work should never prevent travel, it just means you need the right set up for your voice over travel rig and to take the necessary steps when planning.

What’s in The Travel Rig

The point of the travel rig is to sound like you sound in your home studio when you are on the road so that you can provide clients with a continuity of service. I have tweaked my rig quite a few times over the years, and finally invested in a quality set up that I am pleased with. I now bring:

A VoMo booth to go
A Sennheiser MKE 660 microphone
Sennheiser headphones
An AUD Appollo MK II Preamp
A MacBook Air with Twisted Wave

The reason this set up works, is that an effects stack works was created that gives the same sound to the finished audio of that recorded in my booth. It is quite remarkable.

If you are still in the pillow fort phase, here is a video that might be helpful from when I was using pillow forts as well:

https://youtu.be/b2kGnHYRA_o

My Travel Rig Set Up and Pillow Fort (https://youtu.be/b2kGnHYRA_o)

To Bring Or Not To Bring

Now that I have this amazing set up, does this mean that I never take off or that I bring the travel rig everywhere? No. For instance, this weekend I am away Friday night through Sunday. I left the rig at home. I did have one booking come in from an international client. I asked if they could please wait until Monday and that worked out, but if not I was willing to let the gig go. Sometimes you just need a break. Typically, I evaluate what I’ll be doing, how much free time I’ll have, and how much I typically earn that time of year. For example, the last four years in a row July has been my highest earning month of the year. If I go anywhere in July, the travel rig is coming with me. June, in contrast is a slower month. It might be safer to travel without it or to plan travel for that month. Tracking your trends in a CRM can be helpful for you to make such calls. Ultimately, we are all entitled to a break, but you have to weigh how disruptive it will be to your long term success. If your client hires another talents, and then that talents gets then ongoing work instead of you, can you live with that?

Professional Procedures to Take

Ultimately the point of the travel rig is to serve your clients well. If you know travel is coming up, and you are starting a project that might have pickups or script changes you should let the client know. You might also discuss with them the option of recording on your travel rig from home so that the audio matches. If you will have limits to your availability while on the road, it is great to give your regular clients a heads up. If they are used to a speedy turn around and you will have a delay, they’ll appreciate the notice. If you send out a newsletter, the newsletter is a great place to let clients know when you’ll be out of the studio. If you are on regular rosters that send you work, they appreciate the advance notice as well. Typically two weeks notice before travel is standard, and that way clients have the chance to decide of they want to work around your dates and you can decide whether or not you need your rig!

Last Thoughts

Ultimately, there are a lot of ways to get great sound on the road, from pillow forts made out of comforters to tiny mics that plug into your phone. It makes sense to decide what your goals are: ranging from auditions to booked work to pickups, and then determine what gear best meets your needs.

A New Computer for My Studio: My iMac DeskTop

July 5, 2020 by Laura Schreiber

Why The Change was Necessary

I will start by saying that the past five years have flown by and while I have had to seek help with my studio gear, my MacBook Air has been dependable in every way since its purchase. I have not had issues with my computer. I have been extremely happy since switching from a PC to a Mac, and have been extremely happy with the MacBook Air specifically. So, why switch? Well, as per my blog last week, I made a lot of gear upgrades in my studio recently. The early 2015 MacBook Air I have only has one Thunderbolt B port and NO, as an not a single one, Thunderbolt C ports, and it was not possible to have both my pre-amp and my studio monitor hooked up simultaneously, while both are essential. So, I made the choice to upgrade.

Why Did I Pick the iMac?

To be clear, my MacBook Air is still running fine. It completely functions and has not changed in any way, it is just missing some essential ports. This is sad. So, when looking at apple offerings, I decided that since I have a working laptop, I could focus on a great desktop. In truth, I have always wanted one. In the pre-pandemic world, when I could actually enter a store and look around, I always thought it would be great to work at a desk top. I decided this time the desktop made sense. The iMac had the right requirements in terms of storage and speed. I got a track pad and the 21.5 inch screen. All I had to do was wait about 10 days for the iMac to ship from Shanghai to New Jersey!

The SetUp-How did it Go?

The set up went well. It took me most of the day. It arrived around 10:30 am and by dinner I was up and running, and the timing was pretty good. Coming the Friday of a holiday weekend is ideal as the bookings I have for live sessions will not be until next week anyway. I had heard some horror stories of industry friends recently setting up new computers, so I was not optimistic or overly enthusiastic and I expected it to take a while. The initial backup from iCloud went ok. Then I had to install my UAD software. Since I had just done this with Tim last week on the laptop, I still remembered how and it was not fast but I was able to do it. I was worried about getting my settings onto the iMac, but I was actually able to use airdrop to move them from one computer to the other. Twisted Wave setup was a little tricker for me. I spent a while putting in my many keyboard shortcuts. I could not figure out why my effects stack would not open in its entirety. I realized I had to find my initial izotope purchase, download that, enter the ilok, and then open the effects stack. I was getting a little nervous that I would need a session with Tim, but to my own surprise I was able to get it going! I am happy to report that the monitor in my booth connected with ease and I am so thankful to have my booth in working order. I am still making tweaks like syncing my drop box and connecting my pay to plays in my chrome short cuts, but for the most part it is set up how I want it!

What Is Still Missing- Source Connect

I was successfully able to download and install the software for Source Connect. I use the Pro version 3.9 and thankfully I pay for support, so there is no crisis, I just wish I had it up and running. The hiccup for me is repointing the location from the MacBook Air to the iMac. I am also curious if I can run Source Connect on both computers or not. I set up the soonest support session I could, which will be this coming Tuesday at 5:30, and all my questions will be answered. This also made me realize that I had to get zoom up and running, so thankfully that is now set up on my iMac as well.

Thoughts and Plan- Upstairs/Downstairs

Rome was not built in a day, and I am sure that in the coming days and weeks I will realize other applications that need to be installed on the iMac. I am thankful, though, that I accomplished as mush as I did at the start. My plan is that the desktop will live in my office space and my MacBook Air will now reside upstairs and will also be dedicated to my travel rig. It has only been since Friday, 48 hours, but so far this seems like a really wonderful upgrade. Ultimately, this isn’t about just changing computers, right. I had a setup that was working until it wasn’t. I made a change. I used to really fear change, but I know know (more than understand, actually know) that change makes me better and presents opportunity.

VO Gear Upgrade: Apollo Twin

June 28, 2020 by Laura Schreiber

Why Switch from Avalon M5?

When everything is working perfectly in your booth, your bookings are solid, and you are happy with your sound, why shake things up with a gear upgrade? Well, life is not always so cut and dry in the voice over world. While I was really proud when I upgraded to the Avalon M5 preamp, and loved the way it sounds with my Neumann TLM 103 microphone, it is not portable. I’m at a point in my career where if I travel, which happens when there is not a pandemic, I need to sound the way I sound in my booth when in my travel rig. With an Avalon preamp and a Neumann mic, I sound pretty awesome. Even with a VOMO, it is hard to emulate that sound without bringing the Avalon, and if you have ever been in the presence of an Avalon then you know it is not portable. Thus, my journey began.

Working with Tim

One of my VO besties, and all around favorite people on the planet, the amazing Kim Handysides, suggested that I work with the VO Tech Guru Tim Tippets. Kim said Tim does amazing stacks and would set up my travel rig. Initially I had not planned to change my in studio set up with the Avalon M5, just the rig. I reached out to Tim. Tim is amazing because he could just set you up and give you the answer, but instead he spends the time to educate you so that you understand the rationale behind his suggestions and why he is guiding you down a certain path.

The Journey- and Boy Was It One

To Start, I was limited because I was working on a 2015 MacBook Air. Even though my MacBook Air is running really well (knock wood), it only has one Thunderbolt 2 connection and the rest are USB ports. This posed some logistical challenges in terms of suggestions Tim wanted to make. Further, at the time, I was set up to mirror in studio on a monitor. So my MacBook Air stays in an office space outside the studio and I have a great monitor in my booth.

Tim suggested I part ways with my M5, as much as I have loved it, and move on to the Apollo Twin MKII Thunderbolt. He explained the advantages of the Apollo were amazing and that I would sound the same if not better in both my home studio AND I could use it in my travel rig. So, I made the switch.

Tim set up an amazing stack for me on the Apollo and my booth in the house is up and running, almost.

Problem Solving and the Challenges

While I am delighted with the sound of the Apollo and immediately booked a pretty big job in the first round of auditions after being up and running, the big hiccup is that I cannot hookup my monitor in the studio and now my MacBook Air is in the booth, very temporarily. Before an onslaught of well-intentioned notes comes my way, I have purchased and returned multiple adaptors to try to hook up an HDMI to a USB, but to no avail, none will convert a video signal readable by Catalina. And because my MacBookAir is from Early 2015, I do not have a Thunderbolt C port and cannot use an adaptor because my computer could not process the speed. So… I am upgrading and an iMac desktop is on the way! This MacBook Air will be used for my travel rig and for marketing and correspondence, which is fine and I am thrilled with the solution.

The Travel Rig….

So this brings us back to the travel rig set up, which is also pretty exciting. After all, this entire journey started because of the travel rig, right? So, what is my travel rig set up now:

VoMo Booth
Sennheiser 660 Microphone
Apollo Twin MK II Thunderbolt
MacBook Air with Twisted Wav

And the great thing about working with Tim is that he set up the presets in the Apollo for this as well. Now when I go away, I can plug this in and go!

The One Note:

When I first started working with Tim to set up the Apollo, the process was not seamless, not because of Tim- sometimes life is just like that. It seemed that everything that could go wrong did go wrong. Tim was a patient as can be as he has seen it all, but I felt terrible and was quite frustrated. In the middle of attempting to set up the Apollo, I had to do a long overdue Time Machine backup and then upgrade to Catalina, so had I done those things prior to our chat that would have helped. The last thing was that my MacBook Air was not recognizing the device after all of that. I watched multiple youtube videos as I could not bare the thought of texting Tim and telling him something else was wrong. One video made me wonder if something was wrong with my thunderbolt cable. When I looked at it, I realized the lighting bolt was only on one side. If you have an old model and your are using this kind of cable, even though you can plug it in with either side up, make sure that the end with the lighting bolt is face up. Once I did that, everything worked like magic and Tim could do his thing, but it took about 8 hours in my booth to figure that out!

https://youtu.be/AygH6XSXIns

UAD Message "Device Not Found" Solution For Mac (https://youtu.be/AygH6XSXIns)

Packing My Bags and Conference Bound

September 19, 2018 by Laura Schreiber

Time to Pack the Roll-y Bag

After three days in Atlanta I was on the airport shuttle back to the airport. In truth I had never gone very far. I spent the entire time at an airport hotel, for VO Atlanta, one of the biggest voiceover conferences of the year. First, it should be noted that I get terribly car sick and was dreading this shuttle ride. On the shuttle I immediately noticed a gal that looked really familiar but I had not actually gotten to spend time with at the conference. It was the one and only Shelley Avellino. We spent the entire time on the shuttle chatting away. They after clearing security we had lunch before I flew back to NYC and Shelley was off to Vegas. You see, that’s how voiceover is, we treat each other like family. Shelley and I now have weekly chats and I don’t know what I ‘d do without her. That is the magic of these conferences.

One of the biggest reasons that I was confident enough to pursue voiceover years ago was that I did not want to leave my children, Emma and Jack, and commute to New York. I wanted to work from home. So, it seems quite ironic that last year I went away six times to various conferences. Six. S-I-X. I packed my black Tumi bag, and off I went. In truth I feel terrible when my car picks me up for the airport, as if I am leaving my right arm behind. So why do I do it, and so often? Sometimes it’s necessary to leave the foam booth both to meet clients and for professional development opportunities.

ELearning Conferences

As a professional eLearning narrator, I have made some wonderful connections and ultimately gotten great clients from attending conferences including ATD and eLearning Guild conferences. I have had an opportunity to narrate training modules for some of the best known brands, including Ace Hardware, PSE&G, and Walmart to name a few, all based on connections made at conferences. I have met independent instructional designers and large content providers, but I think leaving the comfort of my padded foam booth and making a face to face connection makes all the difference. Whether I am in Orlando or San Diego, the location is irrelevant. I show up at these conferences to listen to what potential clients’ needs are, so that I can better understand what they are looking for in a professional narrator. I also come so that I can introduce myself in person and let them know why I am different than my peers and how my broadcast ready studio sets me apart. The next conference I will attend is Dev Learn in Las Vegas in October, 2018. If you’ll be there let me know!

Radio Summits

Radio Imaging is another big piece of my professional voiceover business. I have a passion for it and am the female voice of multiple Top 40/AC, Classic Hits/CHR, and Christian Top 40 (REL) stations. From sweepers to station promos, this is a genre that I love from format to format. When my mentor Randy Thomas suggested that I fly out to Los Angles last May for the World Wide Radio Summit at the W Hotel in Hollywood, I was one of about 50 voiceover actors who was there. Not only did I meet top radio industry professionals and talent agents, I learned so much about the inner workings of radio both from attending the sessions and from talking to other attendees. I was actually amazed by both how many people I met and how much I learned in just a few days. As a professional voiceover actor who does a lot of radio imaging, this conference was well worth the cross country flight.

Professional Voiceover Conferences

I have had the opportunity to attend multiple voiceover conferences. Not only have I learned so much that has helped me stay current in my industry, but I have had the opportunity to connect with folks from around the world that I otherwise only know online. I am going to go point by point about what I love on this, but I could right multiple blogs about each conference below, so this is just a very brief summary:

WoVo Con: Located in Las Vegas, I attended as a professional talent, but now non pros can attend as well. I loved the seminars that were offered! I did not attend any master classes but the practical skills that I learned I use every day. I also liked the size of the sessions and felt that it was comfortable enough that I could absorb everything.
VO Revolution: In Kankakee, IL. One piece of advice- fly into Midway!! I loved the small intimate setting. I learned so much about marketing and was very inspired. It was a great setting to share ideas and ask questions. This is a great conference for folks starting out or for folks who need a business jumpstart.
VO Mastery: In Studio City, CA. This workshops stands out because of the amazing amount of master classes with top industry professionals and the level of access talents have to interact with them throughout the conference. The panels were also outstanding.
VO Atlanta: In Atlanta, GA. Last, but certainly not least, VO Atlanta is the biggest VO conference of the year. Voiceover professionals come from around the world to attend this conference. I think I enjoy this so much because it is a great opportunity to connect with other talents. So many themes in voiceover are covered that you could focus on what ever topic you are trying to improve on and attend panels and master classes in that field. From voiceover technique to business tools, everything is covered at this conference.

The Other Perks….

So, I love meeting clients in person. I also love meeting other voiceover professionals. But the truth us, I have also gotten to go to some beautiful and fun places when going to these conferences. Last year I was in San Diego for an eLearning conference. If you have never been to San Diego, it is really beautiful. I was also in Las Vegas and had a special evening out with friends from Europe and from the West Coast. We ate at a truly decadent restaurant with an incredible view atop the Mandarin Oriental Hotel.

In April I attended another conference in Orlando. I had lunch with other voiceover talents and stayed at an amazing hotel with a lazy river! While I am highly motivated to grow and maintain client relationships, and stay on the forefront of the voiceover industry, I confess the travel perks ain’t half bad either!